Twenty-six 5 man teams and one-hundred-nine
10 man teams entered and played the 2002 Las Vegas Open. The schedule
of games of play in that event was less than stellar. In fact, it
was bad, forcing teams to rush from game to game with barely 20 minutes
between the end of one and the start of another, making teams play one
of the eight fields three or four times and having some teams play six
or seven of their games in one day, playing the remaining one or two on
the other day. They deserved better, and they deserve an explanation,
at the very least and an apology for the way things turned out.

Bill Mills of Warpig.com and I have been
working on a computer program to generate the groupings of teams and the
schedule of play. I had been doing it by hand using certain algorithms
and Bill took those concepts and created software to create the schedule
of play. The program was in the developmental stage, and since we
would not know the number and classification of the teams that would be
playing in Las Vegas until one week before the event, we planned on using
that matrix of teams to test, polish and tweak the program to create the
schedule, balancing the number of games played in one day (either 4 and
4 or 5 and 3), the number of fields played by each team and the spacing
of the games so that all teams would have at least 60 minutes between game
starts.

I came back from Portugal Tuesday evening,
April 23rd. We were going to work on this from Wednesday, April 24th,
through Monday, April 29th. Unfortunately and unexpectedly, my wife's
mother died on the 24th, and I had to suspend all work related activities
to deal with that tragedy. The funeral was on the 29th, and on the
30th, I was on a plane out to Las Vegas since the tournament was to begin
the next day.

Both Bill (Mills) and I knew the program
was not sufficiently polished to produce a good schedule, but I had no
choice. I made the decision to use the program-generated schedule.
I took the schedule created and used it as a framework to, by hand, consolidate
and organize the games. Obviously, time was of the essence.
I must emphasize two things at this point. First, this was my decision,
not Bill's and second the promoters and I believe the teams owe Bill Mills
big time, for without his efforts, which were and are substantial, we would
have had nothing to go with. At least, we were far enough along to
do something manageable.

Bill and I, at the event, were able to
complete our analysis of the development of the program, so that from Chicago,
our next event, and onward, we will have groupings and schedules of play
that will be the fairest and the most manageable to and for the teams competing.
It will be generated by computer so that all will know that no bias was
involved (it never was), and if I have a family emergency or get hit by
a bus, or retire, my presence or ability to do the scheduling will no longer
be a factor. It should be further noted that schedules can be given
to the teams much sooner than in the past.

This explanation is, in no way offered
as an excuse to the teams playing in the Las Vegas Open. I wanted
to give you the best in a schedule, and I fell short. I offer you
my sincerest apologies and the promise, with the continued efforts of my
friend, Bill Mills, that you will have the best going forward.